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Made with nutty and creamy coconut milk, sweet mango and apple juice, and bits of dragon fruit, this Starbucks dragon fruit drink recipe copycat is full of dreamy sweet flavors! This specialty pink drink is made with simple ingredients and is easy to make caffeine-free. Everyone will love this vibrant-colored drink!
In the mood for something sweet and refreshing with a little bit of caffeine? This Starbucks dragon drink recipe is a fruity paradise packed in a beverage. Simple to make, this Starbucks copycat recipe is a lightened up, better way to enjoy one of our favorite drinks at home!
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Whenever I'm near my local Starbucks, I love grabbing our usual treats: chocolate croissants, cake pops, and this delightful drink similar to the Starbucks mango dragonfruit refresher. What's the difference between the two? This dragon fruit Starbucks drink is sweeter and creamier than the refresher recipe! It's vibrant and sweet, and you can easily customize it to make it as sweet (or not) as you want, and you can make it with or without caffeine!
Instead of ordering this drink off of the Starbucks menu, I figured we could make our own pink drink that had less sugar but was still just as delicious as the original. And wow, was I right!
This beverage is perfect for a hot day whenever you and the kids are craving cold drinks. It's also great for adding to a picnic or summer menu, or for fans of coconut milk. We have so much fun making this recipe year round because of all the different shades of pink and violet it creates. People of all ages will enjoy the dragonfruit flavors in this amazing drink!
🥤What Is Dragon Drink?
This refreshing dragon fruit and mango drink is a combination of mango juice, caffeine, dragon fruit, and creamy coconut milk. Once a secret menu item at Starbucks, you can now find it as a permanent menu item anytime you're craving something with a sweet tropical flavor. You can learn more about this vibrant colored drink on the Starbucks website!
There are three ways you can make this drink: 1) As the standard Mango Dragonfruit Refresher which is made with water, 2) The Dragon Drink which is made with coconut milk and 3) Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade which is made with lemonade!
🥥 Does Starbucks use Real Dragon Fruit?
Yes, the little pieces of fruit you find in the beverage are real pieces of dragon fruit! Yummy, right? We decided to add dragon fruit to our own pink drink to mimic the natural sweetness and lovely texture.
👩🏽🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- Healthy: Way less sugar than the mango dragon fruit refresher or the other Starbucks refreshers, this new drink recipe is made with natural fruit juices and dairy-free milk. The dragon fruit powder and pieces has antioxidants too!
- Easy: With only a few easy steps, you will have a yummy beverage ready in minutes. This recipe is perfect for whenever you're searching for a recipe that is quick and basic.
- Kid-Friendly: Since this version of the mango dragon drink can be caffeine-free, it is suitable for toddlers and children! Want to make your kid's day? Surprise them with this vibrant sweet drink in their favorite cup!
- Customizable: So versatile, you can add extra ingredients to this pink drink and easily change things up.
🥘 Ingredients
You're going to fall in love with how the list of ingredients is so small! It doesn't take much for this Starbucks dragon drink recipe to deliver strong flavors. You can easily find these items online or at your local grocery store!
Dragon Fruit: You will need freeze-dried dragon fruit powder. You can find this fruit powder online, at Whole Foods, or other well-stocked grocery store. As an optional ingredient for serving, you can use some freeze dried dragon fruit pieces, or fresh or frozen dragon fruit as a garnish.
Green Coffee Powder: Also known as green coffee extract, this ingredient is optional. If you want some caffeine in the refresher, then you'll want to add some green coffee powder to it. Green coffee powder is made from raw coffee beans (or berries) and is known to have health benefits such as regulating blood sugar levels.
Fruit Juice: We used both mango and apple juices to make this drink taste as delicious as possible. This is a great way to squeeze in some Vitamin C!
Ice: Any kind of ice will do, but we like to use ice cubes.
Coconut Milk: I recommend using light unsweetened coconut milk, or an unsweetened coconut milk beverage vs. coconut milk from the can.
🍽 Equipment
📖 Variations
- Milk: Use skim milk or any type of dairy-free milk you prefer. We like to use coconut milk because of its creamy and nutty flavors. For more decadence, try coconut cream or heavy cream.
- Sparkling: Want some carbonation? Add some soda water or sparkling water to this recipe to give it a natural fizz.
- Green Tea: Instead of green coffee powder, use matcha or green tea bags.
- More Sweetness: Add some white grape juice concentrate to give this refresher even more flavor.
- Dragon Fruit: Add a scoop of dragon fruit or freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces to mix within the drink.
- Add Protein: If you want to amp up this Mango Dragonfruit Starbucks Refresher, add 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder to this drink and blend it in a blender (instead of a shaker bottle!)
🔪 Instructions
Combine Ingredients, Stir: First, in a mixing bowl, combine both the dragon fruit and green coffee powder with a little bit of apple juice. Stir until smooth.
Add Rest of Ingredients: Next, in a cocktail shaker, add a scoop of ice, the dragon fruit mixture, remaining apple and mango juice, and coconut milk.
Shake! Attach the lid and shake until combined.
Pour, Serve: Add ice cubes and dragon fruit pieces to a large glass. Pour the pink drink into the serving glass and serve immediately.
❓Recipe FAQs
What Is the Nutritional Information for Dragon Drink?
A 16 ounce grande size Starbucks Dragonfruit Drink has 130 calories, 3 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 23 grams of sugar, and 45 mg of caffeine. It doesn't contain much protein (only 1 gram) or fiber.
Our version has about 150 calories and 7 grams of healthy fats, but only 14 grams of sugar and 19 grams of carbs. That makes our recipe better for you than the Starbucks version because doesn't contain as much sugar - it has only about half the amount of sugar than the original drink!
Is the Dragon Drink Healthy?
Although the dragon drink does not contain any added refined sugar, it does contain a ton of sugar from the real fruit juice. 26 grams of sugar in the Starbucks drink is way too much for every day use. So think of enjoying this bright pink drink when you feel like treating yourself and the family!
Is the dragon drink good? What Does Dragon Drink taste like?
Yes! It's delicious - we love this fruity paradise beverage so much we had to make our own to enjoy at home! Anytime we need a pick-me-up, we love to make this specialty drink. It has a smooth, creamy, sweet and refreshing taste - like a fresh tropical fruit juice that also happens to be creamy!
Are dragon fruit good for you?
Dragon fruit does have health benefits and contains fiber, antioxidants, natural sugars, and nutrients your body needs. Whether you're using fresh dragonfruit or ground dragon fruit powder, you'll find that one serving of dragon fruit has 7 grams of fiber, and is high in iron, magnesium and vitamin c.
Is the dragon drink the same as the pink drink?
Although both drinks are pink and contain coconut, they are slightly different. The Starbucks dragon drink recipe is made with a refreshing combination of sweet mango and apple juice where the pink drink is made with only coconut water and dragon fruit. We like to call them both pink drinks!
Does this drink have caffeine?
Both the Starbucks drink and my version have caffeine, but you can easily omit the green coffee powder and make it caffeine free!
🧊 How To Store
Chill: Make a large batch of this beverage and stick it in a glass jar or other type of airtight container and store it in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy. It will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
Freeze: Easily turn this pink drink into popsicles by pouring the liquid into popsicle molds and freezing with popsicle sticks. It will keep in the freezer for 3 months!
👨👩👧 Serving Suggestions
Enjoy this mango refresher with all types of foods and treats.
💭 Expert Tips
- Make sure the apple juice is light in color or it will affect the appearance of the drink.
- If you need to add additional sweetener, then add some sugar or liquid sweetener to the shaker with the dragon fruit drink and mix. This drink is already sweet enough on its own, though!
- To make this a caffeine-free drink, just omit the green coffee powder. Omitting the green coffee powder makes this a kid-friendly drink too!
- When mixing the dragon fruit and coffee powders, make sure they are mixed very well with no lumps of powder in the mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients.
- How pink your drink gets depends on how much dragon fruit powder vs. coconut milk you have. The more coconut milk you add, the lighter pink color you'll get.
- The fresh or frozen dragon fruit is optional.
- Note: If you have a tree nut allergy, you can use any type of milk in place of the coconut milk. You can use nonfat regular milk, or half and half. Just note - the calorie count will be higher than if you are using unsweetened light coconut milk from a box!
